4 things to know about ‘brain-eating amoeba’ found in Lowcountry waters

Eleven-year-old Hannah Collins of Beaufort is believed to have contracted an infection from a brain-eating amoeba — Naegleria fowleri — after swimming in the Edisto River in Charleston County on July 24, state officials say.

An infection such as this, which is usually fatal, is very rare, according to state epidemiologist Linda Bell, of the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control.

Here are four things to know about the amoeba, and the infection it causes.

Again, infection is rare

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“We know from experience that individuals who have been infected have been swimming with other individuals who had the same exposure,” Bell said. “It’s probably not a really easy thing for this organism to invade the tissue that lines the nasal cavity and get into the brain.”

You can take steps to prevent it

Use a nose plug, or pinch your nose when you dive into or go under water.

“People should avoid being submerged in fresh, warm water sources in a way that allows those organisms to get into their nose,” Bell said. “Because that’s how the organism can be introduced.”

Related stories from Hilton Head Island Packet

Jeremy Lewis of Midlothian, Texas, who in 2010 lost his 7-year-old son Kyle to Primary Amoebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM) - known colloquially as "brain-eating amoeba" - spoke to The Island Packet & Beaufort Gazette on Thursday, August 4, 2016, abo McClatchyjmitelman@islandpacket.com

Most recent cases have been found in children and young adults — and mostly males — Bell said. Why? Because those are the folks “that typically dive into the water and do underwater somersaults” or, in other words, are “swimming aggressively,” she said.

Because the amoeba is tiny, you can’t see it in the water, she said. There’s no way, with the naked eye, to tell if it’s there.

Initially, infected persons have a severe frontal headache, fever, nausea and vomiting. Later stage symptoms include a stiff neck, seizures, altered mental status, hallucinations and coma, according to the agency.

Some of those symptoms might almost sound commonplace, but they’re not.

“This is a very severe headache that can be associated with an altered level of consciousness,” Bell said. “This is not your typical headache.”

As for the stiff neck, Bell said it would be “so severe that you can’t bend your head forward and touch your chin to your chest without causing severe pain.”

Not found in salt water

“The organism destroys brain tissue and the tissue lining the brains,” Bell said. “Amoebic infections are very severe because of the tissue destruction, and options for treatment are very limited.”

The amoeba is found worldwide, Bell said, reiterating infection is rare.